Introducing me!

[Kerry1968]

Hello, I live in the UK and I'm new to frogs. I think I've joined under false pretences though, as after receiving an introductory message from John I've found out why I haven't found my type of frog listed here, this forum is for larger frogs and mine are small!

I have two frogs I believe to be kassina senegalensis. They were sold to me as African Running frogs. Does any one here have experience of these frogs or similar?

Anyway, it's nice to be here in your little community!

[John]

Welcome! Actually you've come to the right place. That's an error in the welcome message :P. I've never kept Kassinas but from what I understand they are quite straight forward. Do you have specific questions? I bet we can field them.

[John]

I've fixed that PM. Thanks for pointing that out Kerry.

[Kerry1968]

Thanks John, no particular queries. It would be nice to know about other peoples set-ups etc. I'm changing my frog tank this weekend, going to put a divider in to have a permanent (sp?) small water area. I've tried tipping the tank to have a wet end and a dry end, but it hasn't really worked, it's all wet! Also I wondered about substrate for these frogs. I've got topsoil and compost mixed, the frogs seem OK with it, but I wondered if it was a bit too dense?

[John]

You've hit on your gradient problem in that last sentence. If the soil is too dense then the moisture just spreads throughout the whole thing. These frogs don't need it very moist so your idea about having a small permanent water area is a good one- that way you don't have to obsess about keeping the soil very moist. Do you find that they hide much? Do you have many shelters for them?

[Kerry1968]

Thanks for that again John. The frogs hide ALL the time! The only time I see them out is when I disturb them by moving stuff in the tank etc. I have an underground tunnel made from a PVC pipe and they spend most their time in there. I have some pieces of wood and a bit of moss in there and they'll hide under this too. One of them is more outgoing and is the first to poke his (her) nose out if anything's going on, the other one I hardly see and have to check every couple of days it's still alive!

[John]

Thanks for that again John. The frogs hide ALL the time! The only time I see them out is when I disturb them by moving stuff in the tank etc. I have an underground tunnel made from a PVC pipe and they spend most their time in there. I have some pieces of wood and a bit of moss in there and they'll hide under this too. One of them is more outgoing and is the first to poke his (her) nose out if anything's going on, the other one I hardly see and have to check every couple of days it's still alive!

How long have you had them? A lot of wild caught anurans never really tame down very well but your Kassinas seem particularly shy. Have you tried hand feeding them and do they show any interest?

[Kerry1968]

I'm not sure how long I've had them, a couple of months I should think. I've never tried hand feeding them, I just put 6 or so crickets in the tank every few days. I've managed to hold the less shy one a couple of times and he actually doesn't seem too panicked by this, perhaps I should just build on this and get them more used to people?

Oh, the way I know which is which (they're called Bert and Ernie) is that he less shy one (Ernie) is much skinnier. I've actually seen him eat, so I'm not to worried, but I wondered if the difference in body shape might show a difference in gender? I've never heard them call.

[John]

perhaps I should just build on this and get them more used to people?

Well the key is to get them to associate you with food, so persistent hand feeding should hopefully pay off, although like I said, some anurans never tame down.

I wondered if the difference in body shape might show a difference in gender? I've never heard them call.

In most anurans the males are either slightly smaller or much smaller than females; they tend to eat less than females and it's hard to get them to put on weight (so they always look skinny in comparison). In Kassinas, both sexes are usually the same size so this leaves you with the latter method. As for calling, some Kassinas only call from in or near water - I don't know if this is the case with your species but it might explain why you haven't heard anything.

[Kerry1968]

Thanks for all your help John. I'm off to bed now, it's late for me! See you on the forums soon!

[John]

You're welcome. I hope we see you soon.

[Kurt]

Welcome to the Forum Kerry. Here's what I know about Kassina senegalensis, they are terrestrial members of the family Hyperoliidae, reed & African treefrogs. They are from West Africa. Well, that's it. I have included a pic I found on the internet of one. See below.

I am a little concerned about the skinny one you mentioned. I know when I had my blue poison dart frogs together, one of them was thinning out, so I took them to the vet. I thought it might be gastrointestinal parasites, but the fecal sample proved to be clean. The vet said to separate them, because one was intimidating the other. I was taken back by this, as both of them did eat. So I did what the vet suggested and the thin one began to put on weight. Now I am wondering is this the case with your two frogs?

[justagirl]

I'm fairly new here, too. These folks are great.

[Kerry1968]

Hello, Kurt, thanks for the info. I'll keep an eye on the two of them and I'm going to try hand feeding as John suggested, then I'll know who's getting what! I really don't think the larger one could be intimidating the skinny one as the larger one is hardly ever out!

And thanks for the welcome justagirl, hope to see you around the forums, maybe we'll be online at the same time and get to chat? I love your frog by the way, if I had the choice (and the money for the set-up) I would have Red-Eyed frogs too! They are just gorgeous!

Attching a pic of my frog.....

It's not a very good pic, the tank was dirty, it was just after I set the tank up. Hopefully I'll get some better photos after I change my tank around this weekend.

By the way, does anyone know how long it takes for silicon to dry?

[justagirl]

Thank you. She was a Christmas present from my boyfriend. I can't wait to get more!

[justin shockey]

24 hours

[Kerry1968]

thanks!

[justin shockey]

no big i'm a builder

[Kerry1968]

Here are some pictures of my frog tank after some work on it this weekend. I now have a wet end and a dry end after I siliconed a divider in. The frogs are happy (they told me so themselves!) and one of them is in the process of burying himself in the dry compost. Before, it was heavier as it was moist and mixed with topsoil, so I think they appreciate the changes!

Sorry about the funny pink colour, I think it was to do with the flouresent (sp?) tube being on.

[Kurt]

The frog in the last pic looks a little bit too thin.